Russian tanker abandons Venezuela route after meeting US destroyer — Bloomberg
Photo: Russian tanker changed its mind about sailing to Venezuela after meeting with US destroyer (Getty Images)
A Russian tanker belonging to the shadow fleet changed course and stopped sailing to Venezuela after encountering a US destroyer, Bloomberg reports.
The Russian oil tanker Seahorse turned back on its way to Venezuela after a US warship crossed its path off the coast of the country.
The Russian vessel changed course, heading for Cuba, and has since attempted to approach Venezuela twice, but both times turned back and remains idling in the Caribbean.
The Seahorse tanker is under British and EU sanctions and supplies oil to Venezuela. According to Bloomberg's tanker tracking data, the Russian vessel turned back on its way to Venezuela after a US warship crossed its route off the country's coast.
It is unknown whether the US destroyer USS Stockdale made any contact with the sanctioned tanker. The ship's intentions regarding the Russian vessel are unclear, and a spokesperson for the US Southern Command declined to comment on the ship's movements.
The USS Stockdale arrived in the Caribbean at the end of September along with a dozen other ships to support President Donald Trump's anti-drug operations in the region.
Russia's shadow fleet
Russia continues to build up its shadow fleet to export energy resources in circumvention of sanctions. According to estimates, it already owns one in six tankers in the world (about 17% of the global market). These are mainly decommissioned vessels that have reached the end of their service life and are hiding under the flags of neutral countries.
However, the threat is not limited to environmental risks or illegal oil sales. In particular, these tankers have become an instrument of hybrid warfare, used by the Kremlin as platforms for attacks and espionage in European waters.
The European Union is considering new restrictive measures against those who operate the so-called shadow fleet of Russian tankers. These actions aim to further limit Moscow's revenues, which it uses to finance the war against Ukraine.
